Christmas trees to improve Loveland fishing pond

Once ice melts, 100 will be sent to bottom of Bass Pond

Volunteers John Gwinnup with the Loveland Fishing Club, left, and Marc Brown, with Rocky Mountain Flycasters, attach recycled Christmas trees to a parking bumper with a cable in preparation of sinking 100 recycled Christmas trees into the Bass Pond at River's Edge Natural Area in Loveland to improve fish habitat. (Jenny Sparks / Loveland Reporter-Herald)

One hundred recycled Christmas trees will keep on giving this year by improving aquatic habitat at Bass Pond in Loveland.

Volunteers with the Loveland Fishing Club, working with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Loveland Open Lands Department, bound together and weighted down bundles of recycled pines and firs along the shore of the largest fishing pond at River's Edge Natural Area on Wednesday.

Because the surface of the water was icy but unstable, they did not sink the trees Wednesday. Ben Swigle, fish biologist, will return with a boat once the ice melts and drop the trees in strategic locations that are at least 20 feet from the shore and in areas deep enough to prevent snagging fishing lines.

"They will water log and ultimately create this great habitat, almost like its own little reef," said Marilyn Hilgenberg, the city's open lands and trails manager. "It gives the fish a place to be."

Bass Pond was chosen for the project for several reasons — the habitat was damaged by the 2013 floods, it is a popular fishing spot, the pond is deep enough, and the city had a supply of trees right across the street at one of three drop-off locations to recycle Christmas trees.

"This is a place used by a lot of people — seniors and kids," said Fred Riehm, president of the Loveland Fishing Club. "It's local. It's a nice place for people to come."

Rock Haskell, right, a member of the Loveland Fishing Club, moves a recycled Christmas tree from a pile Wednesday as he and other volunteers prepare to sink 100 recycled Christmas trees into the Bass Pond at River's Edge Natural Area in Loveland to improve fish habitat. (Jenny Sparks / Loveland Reporter-Herald)

Lonetree, which had been a free fishing spot managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife for decades, will now be managed by a metropolitan district that has reported some public access will remain but has not released details.

Though there are perch and other fish in Bass Pond, the namesake fish accounts for the largest population in the fishing pond that, prior to the flood, was considered in pristine condition. However, the raging waters brought silt and debris to the pond, changing the habitat.

"With the flood, it changed the integrity of this pond," said Hilgenberg.

Did you know?

The city of Loveland collects about 5,000 Christmas trees each year at three drop-off locations. Centennial Park, Kroh Park and the Loveland Recycling Center will accept trees through Jan. 31. Most of the trees are chipped into mulch that is used in parks throughout Loveland, but this year, 100 were set aside to boost fish habitat at Bass Pond.

Volunteers with the fishing club also will work on habitat improvements along the shoreline of the ponds at River's Edge Natural Area.

The improvements will work to reverse some of the flood damage to habitat and improve the condition and longevity for fish and the fishing experience for anglers.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.